HIS PREDICTIONS CONCERNING HIMSELF.
In the account of Christ’s crucifixion by Matthew and Mark, it is
recorded that they which passed by railed on him, saying,—“Thou that
destroyest the temple and buildest it in three days, save thyself”; and
that witnesses had testified to the same accusation, but did not agree.
The disagreement seems to have been, that some (Mark xiv. 58) testified
that he said,—“I will destroy this temple that is made with hands and
in three days I will build another made without hands,” and the others
(Matthew xxvi. 61) “I am able to destroy the temple of God and to build
it in three days.” The Evangelists properly characterize both classes
as _false_ witnesses. Jesus had not said, “_I will_ destroy,” nor “I
am _able_ to destroy,” but, “Destroy (_thou_) this temple.” It was not
a destroying by _him_, but by _them_; and it was the temple of his own
body. It was the earliest, and in some respects the most striking of his
predictions of his death and resurrection. It was on the occasion of his
cleansing the temple at the first Passover. The Jews demanded of him,
“What sign showest thou unto us, seeing thou doest these things?” Jesus
said, “Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up.” The
Jews therefore said, “Forty and six years was this temple in building,
and wilt thou rear it up in three days? But he spake of the temple of
his body. When, therefore, he was raised from the dead his disciples
remembered that he spake this, and they believed the Scripture and the
word which Jesus had said.” (John ii. 13 to 22.)
It must have been soon after this Passover, and certainly before John
the Baptist was cast into prison, that Jesus said to Nicodemus, that,
as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son
of Man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth may in him have eternal
life. (John iii. 14, 15.) Nicodemus does not appear again, until his mild
protest to the rest of the Sanhedrim,—“Doth our law judge a man except
it first hear from himself, and know what he doeth?”[1] They answered
and said unto him, “Art thou also of Galilee? Search and see that out
of Galilee ariseth no prophet.” He was silent. (John viii. 45 to 52.)
But when Jesus had been put to death as a malefactor, no longer afraid,
he comes with Joseph of Arimathea, bringing a mixture of myrrh and
aloes, about a hundred pounds weight, and they gave the Crucified One a
princely burial. (John xix. 39, 40, 41.) What had wrought this change in
Nicodemus? The lifting up upon the cross, was to _him_ assured proof that
Jesus was a true “prophet, and more than a prophet.”
On more than one occasion in his early ministry, Jesus in reply to a
demand for a sign from heaven had said, “There shall no sign be given
but the sign of Jonah the prophet; for as Jonah was three days and three
nights in the belly of the whale, so shall the Son of man be three days
and three nights in the heart of the earth.” (Matthew xii. 38 to 40;
Luke xi. 29.) That he should be there only three days and three nights
implied his resurrection. To any objection that he was not in the tomb
any part of three nights, the customary[2] use of language among the Jews
is a sufficient answer. In the _Talm hieros_, it is said that a day and a
night together make up a period; and a part of such a period is counted
as the whole. It is a received[3] rule among the Jews that a part of a
day is put for the whole. Yet that the prediction was expressed in such
terms, is strong evidence of the truthfulness of the record. As Godet
well says, “Who would ever have dreamed of _falsely_ putting in the mouth
of Jesus the expression three days and three nights, when in actual fact
the time spent in the tomb did not exceed one day and two nights?”
Jesus, when called to account for healing on the Sabbath day, answered:
“My Father worketh even until now, and I work.” For this cause,
therefore, the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only
broke the Sabbath, but also called God his own Father, making himself
equal with God. In reply Jesus said: “For as the Father raiseth the dead,
and quickeneth them, even so the Son quickeneth whom he will ... Verily,
verily, I say unto you, The hour cometh and now is, when the dead shall
hear the voice of the Son of God; and they that hear shall live....
Marvel not at this, for the hour cometh, in which all that are in the
tomb shall hear his voice, and shall come forth; they that have done
good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done ill, unto
the resurrection of judgment.” (John v. 1 to 29.)
In his discourse in the Synagogue at Capernaum, concerning the manna, he
said to the Jews: “The bread which I give is my flesh (that is, my life),
for the life of the world.... For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood
is drink indeed.... Many therefore of his disciples when they heard,
said, ‘This is a hard saying; who can hear it?’ But Jesus knowing in
himself that his disciples murmured at this, said unto them, ‘Doth this
cause you to stumble? _What_ then if ye behold the Son of man ascending
where he was before.’” (John vi. 30 to 63.)
His first distinct announcement that he should be put to death and
be raised from the dead, was upon Peter’s confession,— “Thou art the
Christ the Son of the living God;” and it doubtless was in consequence
of this confession. It was after John the Baptist had been put to
death, and after the third Passover, but before the time had come for
a public declaration of his Messiahship; for he charged the disciples
that they should tell no man that he was the Christ. The place was in
the coast of Cesarea Philippi, near the sources of the Jordan. With
verbal differences, the same account substantially is given by each
of the Synoptics, and as follows: “From that time began Jesus to show
unto his disciples, how that he must go into Jerusalem and suffer many
things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and the third day
be raised up.” (Matthew xvi. 21.) “And he began to teach them that the
Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders and
the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days
rise again.” (Mark viii. 31.) “The Son of Man must suffer many things
and be rejected of the elders and the chief priests and scribes and be
killed, and the third day be raised up.” (Luke ix. 22.) Such is the
testimony of these three witnesses. They agree also, that he warned the
disciples not to anticipate worldly glory, but the reverse. Peter, from
_his_ conception of the Messiahship, treated Christ’s predictions of his
death as but gloomy forebodings, and began to rebuke him, saying, “Be it
far from thee, Lord; this shall never be unto thee.” But he turned and
said unto Peter, “Get thee behind me, Satan; thou art a stumbling block
unto me: for thou mindest not the things of God but the things of men.”
(Matthew xvi. 23; Mark viii. 33.)
Six or eight days after these transactions Jesus took with him Peter
and John and James, and went up into a mountain to pray; and he was
transfigured before them. As they were coming down from the mountain
“he commanded them to tell the vision to no man until the Son of Man be
risen from the dead.” (Matthew xvii. 1, 2; Mark viii. 2 to 9; Luke ix.
28 to 36.) Mark adds (doubtless from Peter), that they kept that saying,
questioning among themselves, what the rising again from the dead should
mean.
Elijah’s appearance suggested to them the question, “Why do the scribes
say that Elijah must first come?” To which Jesus replied, “Elijah is come
already, and they knew him not, but did unto him whatsoever they listed.
Even so shall the Son of Man also suffer of them.” Then understood the
disciples that he spake unto them of John the Baptist (Matthew xvii. 10
to 13). Mark (ix. 12 to 14) puts the reference to the Son of Man in the
form of a question: “And how is it written of the Son of Man that he
should suffer many things and be set at naught? But I say unto you that
Elijah is come, and they have also done unto him whatsoever they listed,
even as it is written of him.” In either form his own death is predicted.
After the transfiguration he went to Capernaum, passing through Galilee.
“And while they abode in Galilee, Jesus said unto them, ‘The Son of Man
shall be delivered up into the hands of men; and they shall kill him, and
the third day he shall be raised up.’ And they were exceeding sorry.”
(Matthew xvii. 22, 23.) “‘The Son of Man is delivered up into the hands
of men, and they shall kill him; and when he is killed, after three
days he shall rise again.’ But they understood not the saying, and were
afraid to ask him.” (Mark ix. 30 to 32.) “‘Let these words sink into
your ears: for the Son of Man shall be delivered up into the hands of
men.’ But they understood not this saying, and it was concealed from them
that they should not perceive it; and they were afraid to ask him about
this saying.” (Luke ix. 44, 45.) It is not necessary to suppose that
it was otherwise concealed than by their dullness of apprehension, and
preconceived opinions.
At the feast of Tabernacles, Jesus said to the officers whom the
Pharisees had sent to take him: “Yet a little while am I with you, and
I go unto him that sent me. Ye shall seek me and shall not find me: and
where I am ye cannot come.” (John vii. 32 to 35.)
He said the same to the Pharisees or the “Jews,” the day following the
feast as he taught in the temple; and they said, “Will he kill himself,
that he saith whither I go ye cannot come?” In reply, after repeating his
previous declaration, he said, “When ye have lifted up the Son of Man,
then shall ye know that I am he, and that I do nothing of myself, but
as the Father taught me, I speak these things. And he that sent me is
with me; he hath not left me alone; for I do always the things that are
pleasing to him.” (John viii. 21 to 30.)
In the parable of the good shepherd spoken soon after the Feast, Jesus
says: “I am the good shepherd ... and I lay down my life for the
sheep.... Therefore doth the Father love me because I lay down my life
that I may take it again. No man taketh it away from me, but I lay it
down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it
again. This commandment received I of my Father.” (John x. 11 to 18.)
He said to Martha, “I am the resurrection and the life; he that believeth
on me, though he die yet shall he live.” (John xi. 25.)
As he was going up to Jerusalem to the Passover at which he was to
suffer, he again repeated his announcement to his disciples. “Behold we
go up to Jerusalem; and the Son of Man shall be delivered unto the chief
priests and scribes; and they shall condemn him to death, and shall
deliver him unto the Gentiles to mock, to scourge, and to crucify; and
the third day he shall be raised up.” (Matthew xx. 18, 19.) “Behold, we
go up to Jerusalem; and the Son of Man shall be delivered unto the chief
priests and the scribes; and they shall condemn him to death, and shall
deliver him unto the Gentiles; and they shall mock him, and shall spit
upon him, and shall scourge him, and shall kill him; and after three days
he shall rise again.” (Mark x. 33, 34.) “Behold we go up to Jerusalem,
and all the things that are written by the prophets shall be accomplished
unto the Son of Man; for he shall be delivered up unto the Gentiles, and
shall be mocked, and shamefully entreated, and spit upon; and they shall
scourge and kill him; and the third day he shall rise again. And they
understood none of these things; and this saying was hid from them; and
they perceived not the things that were said.” (Luke xviii. 31 to 34.)
Immediately after (as it would seem), the mother of James and John came
with them with the request, that the sons might sit one on his right
hand, and one on his left hand, in his kingdom. The ten were moved with
indignation. But Jesus said, “The Son of Man came not to be ministered
unto, but to minister and to give his life a ransom for many.” (Matthew
xx. 20 to 28; Mark x. 45.)
Six days before the Passover, he came to Bethany, where Lazarus was whom
he had raised from the dead, and they made him a supper in the house of
Simon; and Mary (the sister of Lazarus) anointed his head and feet with
very precious ointment. This excited the anger of Judas. Jesus said, “Why
trouble ye the woman, for she hath wrought a good work upon me. For ye
have the poor always with you; but me ye have not always, for in that she
poured this ointment upon my body she did it to prepare me for burial.
Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this Gospel shall be preached in the
whole world, that also which this woman hath done shall be spoken of for
a memorial of her.” (Matthew xxvi. 6 to 13; Mark xiv. 3 to 10; John xii.
2 to 8.)
Immediately after his triumphal entry into Jerusalem, on the first day of
the week of his crucifixion, he was told that certain Greeks desired to
see him. It was to him a sign of his glorification among the Gentiles,
and, therefore, of his death. He answered, “The hour is come that the Son
of Man should be glorified. Verily, verily I say unto you, except a grain
of wheat fall into the earth and die, it abideth by itself alone; but
if it die, it beareth much fruit.... Now is my soul troubled; and what
shall I say? Father, save me from this hour. But for this cause came I
unto this hour.... And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all
men unto myself.” But this he said signifying by what manner of death he
should die.” (John xii. 20 to 22.)
The parable of the wicked husbandman (to be found in all the Synoptics)
represents them as killing the son and heir, by whom, as the context
shows, our Lord was intended. And Jesus said, “Did ye never read in the
Scriptures:
‘The stone which the builders rejected,
The same was made the head of the corner;
This was from the Lord,
And it is marvellous in our eyes.’
Therefore, say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken away from
you, and shall be given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.
And he that falleth on this stone shall be broken to pieces; but on
whomsoever it shall fall, it will scatter him as dust.” (Matthew xxi. 42
to 45; Mark xii. 1 to 12; Luke xx. 9 to 10.)
And every day he was teaching in the temple; every night he went out and
lodged in the Mount of Olives till the third day of the week (Tuesday)
with which his public ministry ended; and then he departed from the
temple, never to return.
When he had finished his teaching in the temple, he said unto his
disciples, “Ye know that after two days the Passover cometh, and the Son
of Man is delivered up to be crucified.” (Matthew xxvi. 2.)
Peter and John, as he had directed, made ready the Passover, and when the
hour was come, he sat down, and the Apostles with him. And he said unto
them, “With desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I
suffer.” (Luke xxii. 7 to 15.)
All the Evangelists state, that Jesus at the Passover supper said to the
twelve, “One of you shall betray me”; and two of the Evangelists say that
he designated the traitor, by the giving of the sop. (Matthew xxvi. 21 to
25; Mark xiv. 18 to 21; Luke xxii. 21 to 23; John xiii. 21 to 35.)
After giving him the sop, Jesus said to Judas, “That thou doest do
quickly;” and he having received the sop, went out straightway to carry
out that which he had before agreed; _and it was night_. (Luke xxii. 2 to
6; John xiii. 26 to 30.)
After Judas had gone out, Jesus said, “Now is the son of man glorified,
and God is glorified in him; and to Peter he said, Whither I go thou
canst not follow me now, but thou shalt follow afterwards.” (John xii.
36, 37.)
To the institution of the Lord’s Supper, there is the testimony of
the three Synoptic Gospels, and that of Paul; four witnesses; and its
constant observance from that time to the present. It was to commemorate
his death to the end of the world,—“Take, eat, this is my body.... Drink
ye all of it; for this is my blood of the covenant which is shed for
many unto remission of sins.” (Matthew xvii. 26 to 28.) “Take ye; this
is my body.” “This is my blood of the covenant which is shed for many.”
(Mark xiv. 22 to 25.) “This is my body which is given for you; this do in
remembrance of me.... This cup is the new covenant in my blood, _even_
that which is poured out for you.” (Luke xxii. 18 to 22.) “This is my
body, which is for you; this do in remembrance of me.... This cup is the
new covenant in my blood; this do as oft as ye drink _it_ in remembrance
of me. For as often as ye eat this bread and drink the cup, ye proclaim
the Lord’s death till he come.” (1 Corinthians xi. 23 to 28.)
To his saying that he would go before them into Galilee after his
resurrection, there are _two_ witnesses. It was after they had sung
their hymn, and had gone out unto the Mount of Olives. “All ye shall be
offended in me this night; for it is written I will smite the shepherd,
and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad. But after I am
raised up I will go before you into Galilee.” So, Matthew. Mark’s account
is: “And Jesus saith unto them, All ye shall be offended; for it is
written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered
abroad. Howbeit after I am raised up I will go before you into Galilee.”
(Matthew xxvi. 31, 32; Mark xiv. 27, 28.)
That Peter should thrice deny that he knew him, is proved by _all_ the
Evangelists. “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, that this night before
the cock crow[4] thou shalt deny me thrice.” (Matthew xxvi. 34, 35.) “I
tell thee, Peter, the cock shall not crow this day, until thou shalt
thrice deny that thou knowest me.” (Luke xxii. 34.) “Verily, verily, I
say unto thee, the cock shall not crow till thou hast denied me thrice.”
(John xiii. 38.) Mark (probably from Peter himself) says that when Peter
said, “Although all should be offended, yet will not I,” Jesus said to
him, “Verily I say unto thee, that thou to-day, _even_ this night, before
the cock crow twice, shalt deny me thrice.” “But he spake exceeding
vehemently, If I must die with thee, I will not deny thee. And in like
manner said they all.” (Mark xiv. 26 to 31.)
Yet in the discourse which followed, Jesus again says, “Behold the hour
cometh, yea, is come, that ye shall be scattered, every man to his own,
and shall leave me alone; and yet I am not alone, because the Father is
with me.” (John x. 31, 32.)
“Yet a little while, and the world beholdeth me no more; but ye behold
me; because I live ye shall live also.” (John xiv. 19, 20.)
“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give unto you; not as the world
giveth I give unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be
fearful.”
“Ye heard how I said to you, I go away, and I come unto you. If ye loved
me ye would have rejoiced, because I go unto the Father, for the Father
is greater than I. And now I have told you before it come to pass, that
when it is come to pass ye may believe.” (John xiv. 27 to 31.)
“Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for
his friends. Ye are my friends if ye do the things which I command you.”
(John xv. 13, 14.)
“But now I go unto him that sent me, and none of you asketh me, Whither
goest thou? But because I have spoken these things unto you sorrow hath
filled your heart.” (John xv. 5, 6.)
“A little while and ye behold me no more, and again a little while and ye
shall see me.” (John xv. 16.)
“Verily, verily, I say unto you, that ye shall weep and lament, but the
world shall rejoice; ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be
turned into joy.” (John xvi. 20.)
“And I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to
thee.” (John xvii. 11.)
“Again the high priest asked him and saith unto him, Art thou the Christ,
the Son of the Blessed? And Jesus said, I am, and ye shall see the Son
of Man sitting at the right hand of power, and coming with the clouds of
heaven.” (Mark xiv. 62.)
To Pilate he said, “I am a king”; and “Thou wouldst have no power against
me, except it were given thee from above.” (John xviii. 33 to 37; xix.
11.)
To the penitent thief he said, “Verily, I say unto thee, to-day shalt
thou be with me in paradise.” (Luke xxiii. 43.)
When he had cried with a loud voice HE SAID, “FATHER, INTO THY HANDS
I COMMEND MY SPIRIT.” (Luke xxiii. 46.) And all the Evangelists, four
witnesses, say that he “gave up,” or “yielded up,” the ghost.
There is as much evidence of these utterances (and they are not _all_ of
his predictions, in some form, of his death and resurrection), as there
is of any of his sayings upon any subject, and they are so interwoven
with the entire narrative that is impossible to set them aside, and
leave anything to which we can safely assent as historically true of all
his recorded acts and words. There is no alternative, except to believe
that he uttered these predictions, or else to arbitrarily set aside
the testimony of the four Evangelists, as well as that of Paul. It is
impossible to save their character as honest witnesses, and deny that
Jesus at various times, and in different ways, foretold his death and the
circumstances attending it, and also his resurrection, and that after he
was raised from the dead, he would go before them into Galilee. Not that
we have the _precise_ words, neither more nor less, that he uttered. In
no instance do any two of the five witnesses give _precisely_ the same
words. Their testimony is in accordance with what usually[A] occurs, with
honest witnesses. The witness says, “I cannot give the exact words, or
all of them.” He is told to give the substance of what was said; and he
does so to the extent of his recollection, using some of the same words,
doubtless, but in the main expressing the idea in language of his own.
Yet there is sufficient certainty, for the court or jury, in matters
of the greatest concern. It is, in the highest degree, unreasonable to
demand more of the Evangelists. It is also to be borne in mind that
neither of them professes to give all of our Lord’s sayings; and John,
writing much later than the others, purposely omitted many things as
having been already sufficiently stated.
If, then (as it cannot be doubted was a fact), Jesus plainly foretold
his death, why did it take his disciples by surprise? The answer to
this question may be that not till within six months of the close of
his ministry were they thus told; those months were crowded with his
teachings and miracles, multitudes were following him; he had just before
entered Jerusalem as they might expect their Messiah would do, amidst the
hosannahs of thousands; and they were so filled with their visions of his
glory, and their false conceptions of the predicted Messiah, whom they
believed him to be, that they could not understand him. Their mistake
under the circumstances was a natural one. (See also _post_, c. 19.)
[1] Canon Farrar’s Life of Christ, c. 13; Lange, ditto, Vol. II., p. 29;
John ii. 13-22, and iii 22-25. Here, and in all _subsequent_ references,
the citations are from the Revised Version of the New Testament, unless
otherwise stated.
[2] Lange, Vol. II., p. 273, note, citing Stier, ii, 171.
[3] Lange, Vol. II., p. 273, note; Godet on Luke, p. 265; Whitby, as
quoted by Scott, on Matthew xii. 40; Genesis i. 5; Daniel viii. 14, with
Genesis vii. 4 and 17; Deuteronomy xiv. 28, with xxvi. 12; 1 Samuel xx.
12, with v. 19; 2 Chronicles x. 5, with v. 12; Matthew xxvi. 2, with
xxvii. 63 and 64; Luke ii. 21, with i. 59; 1 Kings xx. 29; Esther iv. 16;
Greenleaf on the Evangelists, etc., 268, 269 and notes.
[4] The cock crows about midnight and about three in the morning, which
was the beginning of the fourth watch. Galicinium (Cock-crowing) standing
alone means the latter time; so that the same time is referred to by all.
Greenleaf’s Testimony, etc., p. 436, and citations.
[A] See _post_, c. 19.